By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-04-02 09:51:15 | Updated at 2025-04-03 10:17:12
1 day ago
No single factor is responsible for longevity but rather several components that reinforce themselves.
New research suggests that addressing key cardiovascular risk factors by age 50 could add 14.5 years to one's life.
The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, stem from data from more than two million people across 39 countries.
Scientists discovered that blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and body weight significantly impact longevity.
Scientists discovered that blood pressure significantly impacts longevity
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The Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium harmonised data from 2,078,948 individuals aged 18 or older across 133 cohort studies.
Participants were followed for up to 47 years, with risk factors assessed at age 50.
The five key factors examined were high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and abnormal body weight.
The study found that participants with all five risk factors at age 50 faced significantly higher lifetime cardiovascular disease risks.
However, women free from all five risk factors lived 14.5 additional years compared to those with all five risk factors.
Men without these risk factors gained 11.8 extra years of life. The lifetime risk of dying before 90 was 88 per cent for women with all risk factors versus 53 per cent for those with none.
The study identified diabetes and smoking as the most impactful individual risk factors.
Women without diabetes lived 6.4 years longer, while men gained 5.8 additional years. Not smoking added approximately five to six years of life expectancy for both sexes.
The research also demonstrated that midlife risk factor modifications still yield significant benefits.
Individuals who reduced high blood pressure between ages 55 and 60 gained 2.4 years free from cardiovascular disease for women and 1.2 years for men.
Smoking cessation during this same period added 2.1 death-free years for women and 2.4 for men. Regional differences in risk factor impact were notable across the study.
In Latin America, women who reduced their blood pressure saw gains of nearly five years free from cardiovascular disease, while in North America, women gained over five additional years of life by avoiding hypertension.
These findings highlight both global commonalities and local priorities in preventive care.
The research underscores that even individuals with no risk factors still face cardiovascular disease risks - 13 per cent for women and 21 per cent for men, suggesting that additional unidentified factors contribute to cardiovascular disease beyond the five modifiable risks studied.
